A DUP MP has highlighted the role of Polish airmen in the Second World War after Poles were warned about the possibility of attacks in the run-up to the Twelfth. Jeffrey Donaldson said he was appalled that there were "people who call themselves loyalist" who have put Polish flags on top of bonfires when Polish airmen had "defended our liberty when that liberty was under serious threat". He was speaking after Jerome Mullen, the Polish Honorary Consul in Northern Ireland, warned members of the Polish community to be "careful" following a racist attack close to a bonfire site in Lisburn at the weekend. Mr Mullen said the Twelfth was a "highly charged part of the year" and he wanted to make the Polish community aware of what can happen at this time. He also appealed for the Polish flag not to be placed on bonfire sites, as in previous years. Responding to the news, Mr Donaldson spoke of how one Polish airman had given his life for the people of Belfast during the Blitz when he flew his plane into a Luftwaffe aircraft to prevent it dropping a bomb on the east of the city. "Now, when I think of the courage and bravery of that Polish airman, defending the people of Belfast, defending the liberty of the people of Belfast, it appals me there are people who call themselves loyalist who would put a Polish flag on top of a bonfire celebrating civil and religious liberty and burn the flag of that airman who defended our liberty when that liberty was under serious threat," he told the BBC's Stephen Nolan Show. * WARNING: Polish Honorary Counsel in Northern Ireland Jerome Mullen PICTURE: Bill Smyth
